SM PRIME HOLDINGS, INC. (SMPH) said it has mandated a group of global and domestic banks to arrange fixed-income investor meetings ahead of a possible issuance of US dollar-denominated senior notes.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange, SMPH said it has tapped HSBC, JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Bank, and UBS as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners, along with BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and China Bank Capital Corp. as joint domestic managers, to organize a series of investor calls in Asia and Europe starting Sept. 8.
“A USD-denominated benchmark-sized Regulation S offering of 5-year senior notes by SMPHI SG Holdings Pte. Ltd. guaranteed by SMPH may follow, subject to market conditions,” the company said.
The notes are expected to be issued under the Singapore-based subsidiary’s $3-billion Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) program.
SMPH said its legal advisers are SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan for Philippine law and Latham & Watkins LLP for English law.
The joint lead managers and bookrunners are being advised by Picazo Buyco Tan Fider Santos & Dee for Philippine law and Linklaters Singapore Pte. Ltd. for English law.
The planned notes offering comes after SM Prime deferred the initial public offering (IPO) of its planned real estate investment trust (REIT) to beyond 2026, citing unfavorable market conditions.
“Instead of coming up with a REIT in 2026, we may have to defer it a bit and we have to take into account market conditions as well as liquidity in the market,” SM Prime Chief Finance Officer John Nai Peng C. Ong said during a Philippine Stock Exchange investor event in August.
“While the view on REIT is still there, the timing may have to be deferred beyond the year 2025 and I think personally even beyond 2026,” he added.
SM Prime is pursuing an extensive expansion pipeline, which includes the opening of a new mall in Xiamen, China next month and another in Fujian province by 2027.
Locally, the company has allotted more than P150 billion for 16 major redevelopments and 12 new lifestyle malls from 2026 to 2030, with plans to open one landmark flagship mall each year.
On Monday, SM Prime shares rose by 0.87% or 20 centavos to close at P23.20 apiece. — B.M.D. Cruz